


Pay off

by stjarna



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Deaf!Jemma, F/M, One Shot, Reunion, S5 spec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 11:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13006722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: A S5 one shot spec drabble idea I had for Fitzsimmons' reunion.





	Pay off

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to @diklirani for the beta.  
> Banner by me.

 

Jemma stared at him, trying not to let her emotions show. She wanted to call out his name. Wanted to run to him. Throw her arms around him. Kiss him. Touch him. Reassure herself that it was really him, standing next to Deke. She was fighting tears. He’d glanced at her and she could tell that he had to force himself to keep still as well.

Jemma had mastered the art of lip reading well enough to know Deke had introduced him as a new associate, someone he was convinced was worth Kasius’ time. Fitz’s expression was stoic, almost arrogant, as Deke spoke. He looked confident and proud, but she knew him well enough to see the nervousness behind his eyes.

Kasius seemed impressed with the device Deke showed him. Jemma immediately recognized it as a design Fitz had worked on before the Framework.

“I think he’ll be a valuable asset for your private lab,” Deke declared. “His talents are wasted down in Processing.”

Kasius looked curiously at Fitz, eyeing him up and down and taking a step closer. “And would this asset happen to have a name?” he asked, holding his arms behind his back.

“Doctor,” Fitz replied matter-of-factly. Jemma missed the sound of his voice.

A cold smile flashed across Kasius’ face. “I like a man who gives himself a title. Someone who knows his own worth.” He turned to Deke. “Thank you for bringing him to my attention. You shall be rewarded accordingly. You may return to your section. We will take care of the Doctor.”

Deke bobbed his head slightly, briefly glancing at Jemma, before heading past Kasius and out the door.

“Well, Doctor,” Kasius addressed Fitz, who confidently held his gaze. “I hear life in Processing is quite tedious.”

“I don’t mind hard work,” Fitz replied, his expression unwavering.

“Of course not.” Kasius picked up Fitz’s design, studying the device once more. “That is quite obvious. Nonetheless, I believe we shall begin by allowing you to refresh and rest before taking you to our laboratory facilities.”

Fitz bobbed his head. “As you wish.”

Kasius turned around and Jemma’s heart started racing. “Jemma,” his voice broke through her muffled silence, “please take the Doctor to the bathing facilities and ensure that he is provided with fresh clothing. Then accompany him to his room.”

Jemma smiled, and for once it looked stilted not because she forced herself to smile but because she forced herself not to. She bowed her head to Kasius, before looking at Fitz, gesturing towards the hallway. She noticed Fitz’s lips twitch briefly, a hint of a sparkle in his eyes that she tried not to reflect, before he stepped forward to follow her.

Jemma walked slowly down the corridor, her hands held in front of her body in the submissive position she’d almost become accustomed to. She glanced up, fully aware of Kasius’ surveillance system. She didn’t dare look back to see if Fitz was following her. She assumed as much, and she was grateful that he either instinctively knew they were being watched or that Deke had warned him.

The bathing facilities were the one section Jemma knew was not under surveillance. It seemed ironic that Kasius had no problem invading his servants’ privacy in public, touching their faces, standing behind them. His breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine when he whispered into her ear. And yet he seemed to have enough decency not to spy on his slaves when they undressed.

She pulled back the curtain, bowing her head and gesturing into the room. Fitz stopped beside her and Jemma glanced up, meeting his questioning eyes. She nodded barely noticeably, reassuring him that once they were inside, they’d be free from Kasius’ gaze. Fitz stepped inside and Jemma waited a moment before following him, closing the curtain behind herself. She paused, clutching the heavy fabric. Her head was swimming and her heart thumped frantically.

She fought back tears and swallowed before slowly turning around. Her lips began to quiver the second her eyes caught sight of Fitz. His eyes shimmered behind a curtain of tears. His lips were parted and he seemed to have lost the confidence he’d shown in front of Kasius; his tense body, much like hers, radiating nervousness and the underlying fear that it was maybe all a dream.

“Fitz,” Jemma felt herself whisper, hoping her voice had managed to break the silence.

His lips ticked up into a smile and Jemma saw him mouth her name before he took a sudden step forward, rushing towards her, his hands raised. It seemed like a dream—her world wrapped in cotton and silence—as he came closer like a ghost, like a vision come to life. But when she felt his familiar hands cupping her face, when his lips pressed against hers with urgency and desperation, his beard scratching her lips, when she tasted him, smelled him, felt him, Jemma was pulled back into reality—a reality she wished to absorb, to drown in. She ran her fingers through his hair, deepening their kiss as tears began streaming down her face.

Fitz pulled away, his chest heaving and his thumbs carefully gliding across her cheeks. “What did they do to you?” she read from his lips, her mind trying to conjure the tone of his Scottish brogue to match the sadness and concern his eyes conveyed.

A smile flashed across Jemma’s face. Reluctantly, she untangled her fingers from his curls, bringing them up to her ear, tapping it gently. “I can’t hear you,” she admitted. “He implanted some tech. Only his voice can break through, unless he switches the bloody thing off.”

Fitz’s eyes widened, searching hers as if he were unwilling to accept her truth. He wet his lips and suddenly let go of Jemma’s face, taking a step back.

He gestured at his chest, then crossed his forearms across his chest in an x-shape, before pointing at Jemma.

More tears shot to Jemma’s eyes, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “You remember.”

Fitz nodded, before continuing to sign, his eyes bright, almost mischievous. “Guess your rubbish idea to take ASL for extra credit at the Academy is finally paying off.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just had this idea that Jemma Anne Simmons would be the kind of person who'd say "We should take more credits at the Academy! How about this sign language course?" And Leopold James Fitz talk about how that's a rubbish idea, and he'd be grumpy AF but then he'd do it anyways.


End file.
